Oskar Schindler stated, “I hated the brutality, the sadism, and the insanity of Nazism. I just couldn’t stand by and see people destroyed. I did what I could, what I had to do, what my conscience told me I must do. That’s all there is to it. Really, nothing more” (AZ Quotes 1). During World War II, Oskar Schindler stood up to the Nazi party in Krakow, Poland by using false labor records and pleading with Nazi leaders, so they would not send his Jewish factory workers to concentration camps. Oskar Schindler’s bravery to stand up to the Nazi’s during World War Il saved 1,200 innocent Jewish people’s lives rom the horrors of the Holocaust.
Before WWII Germany faced many hardships with their weak government system, false propaganda and religious issues. After WWI, Germany was in major economic crisis and the weak government, Weimar Republic could not handle it. The Germans needed a new leader and a new government plan; fast. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states, “Still fresh in the minds of many was Germany’s humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic” (USHMM 1).
The citizens of Germany were violently protesting the Weimar Republic and people were starving. This gave the Nazis the power to write carefully worded speeches to convince the German citizens that they could help. The Weimar Republic was failing, there were economic problems from the choices made during WWI and the Nazi party was becoming increasingly popular. C. N. Trueman stated, “You could only read, see and hear what the Nazis wanted you to read, see and hear.
In this way, if you believed what you were told, the Nazi leaders logically assumed that opposition to their rule would be ery small and practiced only by those on the very extreme who would be easy to catch” (Trueman 1). The Nazis were very persuasive with their propaganda, and they knew that if the only news that could spread was theirs, it would be easy to start their “final solution”. Hitler was ready to start killing the Jews. Jason Levine states, “But when Germany invaded, destruction began immediately and it was merciless. Jews were herded into crowded ghettos, randomly beaten and humiliated, capriciously killed. (Jewish Virtual Library 1).
The Nazis used false information to trick the Germans into thinking that the Jews and nyone who was different in any way caused the problems in Germany. When Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany in 1933 he started planning his “final solution” to kill everyone that was not like him. The Nazis were very skilled at using propaganda to get the German citizens to think they could fix all of the problems in Germany. People did not know what was to come for them. Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany in 1933 and the Nazi party was becoming increasingly popular.
The Germans did not know what was about to hit them. Oskar Schindler- a German industrialist, joined the Nazi party in 1939, s many Germans were doing at the time. UXL Biographies stated, “Hitler had been very clear: ‘whoever is with me will be able to live in a great Germany. But whoever is against me will find instant death. ” (SRC 1). With the Nazis using their propaganda to spread racist messages across Germany, many citizens felt the need to fight with the Nazis.
After Schindler was almost killed in Czechoslovakia as a Nazi spy, he moved to Krakow Poland and acquired a factory. Schindler acquired a bankrupt factory that made enamel (a glassy coating baked onto the surface of metal, porcelain, and pottery) products. He ired Itzhak Stern, a Jew, to serve as his accountant” (SRC 1). Isaak Stern helped Schindler get in contact with the Jews in the Krakow ghetto and hired them to work in his new factory, Emalia. Germany attacked Poland in 1939. The other European countries were furious with Germany, WWII had begun. Oskar Schindler stood up to the Nazi’s to save his Jewish factory worker’s by pleading with them, bribing them, and using false labor records.
Oskar Schindler acquired a bankrupt enamelware factory in Krakow Poland in 1939. He hired a Jewish man, Isaak Stern to be his accountant. Isaak Stern put him in contact with he Krakow Jews and Schindler hired them because they were a cheap workforce. To show how Schindler pleaded with the Nazi’s, the Encyclopedia World of Biography website stated, “In June of 1942, the Nazis began relocating Krakow’s Jews to labor camps. Some of Schindler’s workers, including his office manager, were among the first group of people ordered to report to the train station.
Schindler raced to the station and argued with an SS officer about how essential his workers were to the war effort. By dropping the names of some of his Nazi friends and making a couple of threats, he was finally able to escue the workers and escort them safely back to his factory” (Encyclopedia World of Biography 1). Oskar Schindler had good status with the Nazi’s because of past experiences, so when his workers were at risk from the Holocaust, he could use his power with them to save his workers from getting shipped off to concentration camps.
Schindler was able to save so many lives because of his good status with the Nazi’s. Oskar Schindler was very interested in the black market before purchasing his factory. He got lots of rare items that he used to bribe the Nazi’s with. To show how Oskar Schindler bribed the Nazi’s, “Schindler quickly created friendships with key officers in both the Wehrmacht (the German army) and the SS (the special armed Nazi unit), offering them black-market (illegal) goods such as cognac and cigars” (Encyclopedia World of Biography 1).
Schindler started purchasing items off the black market before he bought his factory in 1939. He liked the business aspect of it, and wanted to continue in business, which is why he bought “Emalia”. The Nazi’s tried many times to take Schindler’s Jewish workers off to camps, but Schindler did everything he could to top them and was successful most of the time. Eric Badertscher stated, “To avoid suspicion, he falsified employment records, claiming that many of the Jews were laborers with essential skills for the war effort” (Badertscher 1).
In 1940 the Nazi’s ordered all Jews that were non-essential to the war effort out of Krakow. To make sure that the Nazi’s did not take Schindler’s Jews, he used false labor records. He put children down as adults and elders down as 20 years younger on the records. Oskar Schindler did everything in his power to save his Jewish employees. By the time the camps were liberated Schindler hought of his workers as friends rather than employees. Oskar Schindler gave 1,200 Jews the ability to live a long and happy life.
Jews were dying of hunger, sickness and horrible living conditions at the labor camps during WWII, but 1,200 Jews were living safely in Schindler’s factory. Eva Lavi, a Jew who Schindler saved, stated, “However, though this was a terrible time in my life, had two great fortuitous things: I was lucky to have my name inscribed on Oscar Schindler’s list, of which I was the youngest person, and I was able to stay by my mother’s side” (Israel Defense Forces 1). Eva Lavi was very young when the war started, she was very lucky to be on Schindler’s list.
If it were not for Schindler she may not have been able to live the life she has today. Oskar Schindler made an impact on his workers lives and their family’s lives by helping them during the most brutal time. Many people today deny that the Holocaust ever happened, deny that 6 million Jews were tortured by the Nazis, they don’t want to believe that such a horrible thing happened. The truth is, that it did happen, the Holocaust happened and the only thing we can do about it today is to make sure that it doesn’t appen again.
The only way to do that is to teach people the facts and show them the evidence. That is where the movie, Schindler’s List comes in, it shows how horrible of a time it was for the Jews, it shows how one brave man, Oskar Schindler stood up to the Nazi’s. He pleaded with them, bribed them and tricked them, so he could save his Jewish employees lives. “He who saves one life, saves the world entire” (Schindler 1). Oskar Schindler stood up to the Nazis during WWII and saved 1,200 of his Jewish workers lives. Germany lacked leadership after WWI, which gave Adolf Hitler the chance to rise in power.
